Descendants gather to mark anniversary of grandparents' journey to America

The VandenBoom family, back row left to right, Walter, Katherine, Martin and Jacob; front row left to right, Henry, Marie, grandpa Cornelius, Marinus, grandma Arnolda, and John (submitted by the VandenBoom family).

“Welcome to party central,” said Kathleen Shook of Texas and captain of the crew that organized the Smits-VandenBoom Centennial Celebration. It marks the 100th anniversary of her grandparents’ arrival on Ellis Island.

“It’s been a labor of love but there is no way I could pull it off without the help from my longtime friend and first cousin in Warren, Diane Lush,” said Kathleen while carrying a balloon bouquet that members of the family were making as centerpieces for tonight’s event. “She booked the hotel for all of the out-of-towners. She got the photographer (and the disc jockey) and she found us a place to have the party.”

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The place is Warren’s Royalty House Banquet Facility, which holds 240 people.

Initially the two had thought there would be more than enough room. With the families living all over the country - Florida, Tennessee, Maine, New York, Oklahoma, Indiana and Texas - chances are most of the more than 400 descendants would not come.

“I said when we started it that if we can gather 150 people we’ll have a great party,” said Shook, who is staying with her brother Marcus Smits in Royal Oak. “But this thing just blew up.”

“We’re actually having 241, not counting the photographer, priest and deejay,” said Kathleen’s husband, Joe Shook.

This wouldn’t surprise Dick VandenBoom, another of Kathleen and Diane’s cousins, who is traveling with his family from Indianapolis. He said at one point 36 of his cousins who lived in Michigan attended the same school, at the same time. “It was St. John Berchmans Catholic School on Lakeview in Detroit,” said Dick. “I’m in the middle so I had some who were older and some younger.”

It was competitive, what with everyone trying to make a name for themselves in a school where one name was dominant, but mostly fun. And they remained close, throughout their years in school and afterward. Dick said it helped that one of the cousins owned a farm and hosted a picnic for the family every Fourth of July.

“I’m always amazed by families who aren’t close,” said Kathleen, whose mother Katherine was one of six children born to Cornelius and Arnolda VandenBoom who arrived on Ellis Island, April 14, 1914. It was no doubt a rough trip. For 10 days, they traveled aboard the Holland America SS Rotterdam, from the comforts of their farming community in Uden, Noord-Brabart, Netherlands, to their new home in America. As with the immigrants on the Titanic (which sunk exactly three years to the day they landed in New York) they traveled third-class (their family’s passage of $1,600 paid by a relative) and were restricted to the belly of the ship. Only at night were they allowed to meander on the ship’s deck for fresh air and a break in their monotonous journey. After arriving in America, Cornelius and Arnolda settled in Little Chute, Wis., where folks worked on farms and at the local paper mill - which was where Kathleen’s mother and father met. “He spoke Dutch, and my mother was one of the few people who could understand him,” Kathleen said.

The family was always aware of the trip by Cornelius and Arnolda.

But the details were a gift from Joe.

Ten years ago, Kathleen’s brother Cornelius (named after his grandfather) died. At the time she was a widower and the mother of three, but seriously dating Joe - who flew from Korea where he worked to attend the funeral. It was his first opportunity to meet the family. When he saw all of the relatives who came to pay their respects to Cornelius, he decided to use his talents as a genealogist to delve deeper into the family’s history.

“There was a unity amongst them that was something to behold - partially due to their upbringing and their belief in God and country,” said Joe. “I was on a submarine in the military and I remember I felt that same unity then.”

So, he started digging and not only found further details about the trip but family members they didn’t know about. “She (Arnolda) had 12 children, not eight,” Kathleen said of her grandmother. “She lost one at 5 years of age, two at 6 months and one at 1 week of age.”

Once they learned of the looming centennial, there was no stopping Joe’s work and the family’s need for a celebration.

“I want the family to stay united and I want our young people - who are quick to judge other immigrants - to understand it is only by the grace of God and the guts of their great-grandparents that they were born here.”

On Saturday, the families - including two sets of twins (age 61 and age 5) will gather in Warren. After the speeches and a few stories - touching on grandpa’s talent for homebrewed whiskey and grandma’s smoked hams - they’ll dine and dance. In the background will be a display of photos and paperwork, documenting their grandparent’s pilgrimage to America and the roots that they put down and remain connected to no matter where the family tree might grow.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Dick VandenBoom, who plans to attend the event with his sons and grandchildren. “Just to be able to look out and see all of the descendants - the offspring from all of the cousins - is going to be amazing.”